


Nuka-Love

by magicianlogician12



Series: Heart of Steel [15]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-10 03:23:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11682993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicianlogician12/pseuds/magicianlogician12
Summary: Haylen’s first indicator that there was more to Nuka-World than met the eye was the fact Tabi felt it necessary to travel there in full power armor.





	Nuka-Love

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written as part of a holiday art trade but I'd forgotten to post it here until now--unfortunately this doesn't mean I'm coming back with a whole lot of new content; this is more just cleaning out my old documents.

Haylen’s first indicator that there was more to Nuka-World than met the eye was the fact Tabi felt it necessary to travel there in full power armor.

“Planning for trouble?” Haylen arched a brow as she and Tabi waited at the tram station that would take them to Nuka-World. This had been a fairly impromptu trip, and Haylen knew such spontaneity was ordinarily frowned-upon by the Brotherhood, but as Sentinel, Tabi had been given a little more slack.

A few weeks ago, Tabi had gone on a brief mission at the edges of the Glowing Sea, and had been gone long enough to cause mild concern among Cambridge station’s resident scribes and knights. Then, just a few nights ago, Tabi had returned, in the dead of night, looking a thousand years older than she had when she left. Haylen asking what was wrong had yielded nothing except, “I’ll tell you later.”

‘Later’ had been the next morning, when Tabi had recovered most of her usual humor. She’d asked to speak to Haylen alone, so they’d gone out to the garage, where Tabi’s power armor had needed some repairs. Tabi explained to Haylen there that she’d picked up an unusual radio transmission and had gone to investigate. It had turned out to be from something Tabi called an ‘amusement park’, something from her time. What had garnered Haylen’s much more immediate attention, however, was that it was chock-full of technology they could attempt to salvage. Tabi had suggested this trip as a preliminary expedition to determine what could be saved and what had to be scrapped.

“I’m always planning for trouble.” Tabi said wryly, in response to Haylen’s original question. After a slight hesitation, though, she let out a slight sigh and admitted, “Though going back here makes me nervous.”

Haylen frowned. “Why?”

Tabi fidgeted slightly. It was hard to see in power armor, but Haylen caught it. “There’s…a little more to this place than I may have mentioned originally.”

Haylen folded her arms slowly and blinked once, slowly. “How so?”

Tabi reached up to pull off her power armor’s helmet, knowing Haylen preferred conversing face-to-face. “The place is run by raiders.” Tabi said flatly, finally, lips pursed. “It’s several raider groups that banded together and have an Overboss, someone in charge of all the groups combined.”

She thought she had to be hearing things. “So it’s just two of us against several groups of raiders? Tabi, I–”

“No.” now Tabi looked a little uncomfortable. “You know I was gone for a few weeks, that last time. Longer than I’ve been gone since…well, since I infiltrated the Institute. When I first got there, I got roped into something called the Gauntlet, and ended up facing their current Overboss, and…I killed him.” Tabi shuffled slightly, and her armor clanked and hissed in response. “So I’m their new Overboss now.”

“…Is this a joke?” Haylen had to ask, only half-joking herself. She doubted it, but she had to ask.

Tabi laughed, so it wasn’t a total loss. “I wish. Point is, we shouldn’t have to fight any of them, and as long as you’re with me, they’ll leave you alone, but being around that many raiders sets my hair on end.”

Squeaking and creaking, the tram arrived, and as they got on, Haylen eyed the mechanisms dubiously. “You sure this thing is reliable?”

“If it’s held up under my power armor,” Tabi replied with a grin, holding her power armor’s helmet in her hands before setting it on a nearby seat, “I doubt it’ll buckle under us now.”

Not entirely convinced, Haylen sat down on the bench seat across from Tabi’s helmet. “So…are you going to stay the leader of these raiders, or…?”

“No.” Tabi replied, pulling the release lever so she could step out of her armor. “I talked to Maxson about it when I first got back, before I came back to Cambridge, and requested a small task force to take care of them. Once I explained how elaborate the raiders’ setup was, he agreed to loan me what I needed. But that means I need to get numbers. How many raiders we’ll be dealing with, what we’ll be getting in return, et cetera. That’s part of why we’re here.” Tabi rolled her shoulders in a stretch before sitting next to her helmet, across from Haylen. “Besides, I figure there’s gotta be  _ something _ in Nuka-World you’d enjoy tinkering with before the rest of the scribes–the place is  _ massive _ . I didn’t want to say anything until we had a solid plan, though.”

They rode in silence for a few more minutes before Haylen asked, “Did you ever come here before…?”

Haylen left the question open, but Tabi understood. “Just once, when I was young. Don’t remember it all that much. I think my dad persuaded my mom it was a good idea, and she ended up being miserable the whole day.” Tabi cracked a smile. “Only time I ever remember seeing her as anything but stoic, honestly.”

“And now it’s…” Haylen trailed off.

“Definitely different.” some of the grin left Tabi’s face, but not all of it. “Though the same could be said of just about everything else. It doesn’t bother me, Hay. It bothers me a  _ lot _ more that this place is in the hands of raiders.”

Tabi rose to her feet as the tram began to slow its pace, stepping back into her armor, setting her helmet back on top of her head and sealing it to the rest of the suit. “Now,” she instructed, slinging her rifle, Nightstrike, over one shoulder, “I’m gonna be dropping my armor off at the entrance to the Galactic Zone, since that’ll probably be the best place for us to start. Stay close to me until we get there. I told Gage I was bringing someone with me this time, so everyone should be on their best behavior–or they’d better be, at least–just…stay close.” Tabi repeated. “Just stay close.”

Nuka-World was not what Haylen expected, though truthfully she hadn’t known exactly  _ what _ to expect to begin with.

She did understand, though, Tabi’s nervousness around the raiders. They were perfectly cordial to Tabi when she walked by, but the near-reverential quality with which they referred to her as their Overboss was more than a little disconcerting. Haylen found the ones Tabi referred to as the Pack most susceptible.

Most horrifying, though, were the merchants with the collars. Haylen had been about to ask Tabi what they were before getting it herself, and understood in a heartbeat why Tabi wanted to shut this operation down.

Noticing Haylen’s reaction, Tabi leaned down and carefully muttered, mindful of the raiders all around, “I’ve spoken to a few of them. They’re aware it’s only a matter of time until they’re freed. Still…this was hard to see. Can’t imagine how they’ve been coping.” Standing straight again, she continued, at normal volume, “We’re almost at the Galactic Zone. I think I know exactly where you’re gonna want to get started…”

Curiosity piqued, Haylen continued to follow closely at Tabi’s heels until she motioned for Haylen to step back, stepping once more out of her power armor. She handed her rifle to Haylen to hold until she’d re-sealed her armored suit, adjusting the strap and slinging it back over her shoulder. She used her free arm to drape over Haylen’s shoulders, and Haylen leaned slightly into the casual gesture as they walked.

Fortunately, they saw no more raiders until they arrived at Tabi’s first stop. “So, what’s this?” Haylen asked when Tabi’s arm fell away and they stood in front of a white building with a rocket of some kind, and two words in the image of the flame, which Haylen read aloud, “‘Nuka-Galaxy’.”

“A ride.” Tabi shrugged. “But that’s not all I think you’ll be interested in.”

Inside, Tabi rummaged through a cabinet and emerged with a circuit board, but it definitely wasn’t of a sort Haylen had seen before. It was black, with several glowing red lights. Haylen took it and looked it over briefly, fingers already itching to take a closer look. “What is it?”

“A star core.” Tabi responded, switching her rifle to her other shoulder. “Had to track down twenty of the damn things to get this place up and running again, but it was  _ completely _ worth it. Stick it in your pack if you wanna bring it with us–there’s more you’ve got to see.”

Carefully wedging the circuit board in with the tools she’d brought with her from the Cambridge station, Haylen followed Tabi until they reached a track, similar to the tram-way, but smaller and narrower. Plus, their ‘tram’ this time was in the shape of a rocket.

Haylen eyed it dubiously. “That thing gonna hold up?”

“It’s stable.” Tabi reassured as she tapped a few buttons on the control panel. Scowling slightly, she smacked it with the flat of her hand once, then a low rumble in the metal control box leveled out. Setting her rifle down against it, Tabi made a gesture towards the rocket. “After you. Just leave some room so I can hop in next to you when I press the switch.”

Tabi waited for Haylen to slowly set foot on the ride’s car, getting her footing before sitting down on the plastic-coated bench, wrapping her fingers around a metal bar that she assumed was there to be held onto. “Okay, I  _ think _ I’m ready.”

“Great.” Tabi pulled a lever, then leaped over the last rope separating the control box from the track, sliding quickly into the car’s seat, next to Haylen. “Now hang on.”

With a jolt, their rocket-shaped car began to move forward, and Haylen leaned forward as well, a heady mix of anticipation and nerves running through her blood. Tabi reached out and squeezed her forearm once, and Haylen let out a breath. Their car turned a corner into a room not illuminated by any lights, and stopped.

Lights in various shades of blue turned on and painted the walls in patterns like starlight, but Haylen had only a moment to look at them before the car jolted forward again, much faster this time, and her stomach swooped and dove with the motion, a wide grin spreading across her face as their motion pulled strands of hair from her impeccable ponytail and a loud, high-pitched laugh from somewhere deep in her chest.

They passed by cratered rocks held aloft, a flying saucer that shot blue lasers at them for only a few seconds, then the car plummeted down the tracks fast enough to make Haylen’s eyes water–they flew around a curve and into a mock “battle” between what looked like Mr. Handy robots and aliens, both shooting more lasers at one another.

Around the next curve, Tabi ducked instinctively when several more flying saucer-things began shooting the same blue lasers, and Haylen bumped her shoulder hard enough that it couldn’t have been an accident, then laughed again as the curves whipped them around corners, into another darkened room, and then finally back where they started.

Haylen took a minute to catch her breath before glancing over at Tabi. Her undercut had flopped to the side over the course of the ride, but what grabbed Haylen’s attention the most was the look of fond amusement on Tabi’s face and the slight grin that tugged at one side of her face.

“Seems like your ponytail lost some of its cohesiveness.” Tabi remarked as she placed some loose strands of Haylen’s hair behind her ear.

Haylen reached out to flip Tabi’s hair the right direction. “Seems like you’re having similar issues.”

Tabi snorted, and her grin widened. “All right, we’ve had our fun. Shall we get to work?”

Securing her hair once again, Haylen reluctantly agreed, “Yeah, let’s get started.”

Snagging her rifle from where she’d left it against the control box, Tabi escorted Haylen down to the bottom of the ride, where the mock battle had been taking place. Together, they began the task of cataloguing the lasers–which were salvageable as weapons, and which were too volatile or unstable to use.

This was more Haylen’s part of ship than Tabi’s, but Tabi kept herself occupied by ensuring the place really was as clear as she’d thought it was earlier. It’d been a lapse in judgment to set her rifle aside when she hadn’t checked the place over in days, but she supposed that if something  _ really _ big and nasty had gotten in here, some of the raiders would have told her about it.

Or maybe they wouldn’tve. Tabi had no idea. Either way, she felt better patrolling herself.

Poking her head back around the corner, Tabi checked that Haylen was fine, and saw her sitting cross-legged on the ground with parts from a disassembled laser rifle on the ground. Satisfied Haylen was busy and happy, Tabi headed down the corridor.

It was around late afternoon that Tabi cycled back around to where she’d left Haylen and suggested a break to eat something. Haylen only reluctantly left her cataloguing to catch the packaged steak meal Tabi tossed her. After finishing her own, Tabi asked, “Finding anything interesting?”

“I’m finding a lot.” Haylen brushed a strand of ginger hair behind her ear. “It’s gonna be more than a one-person job, though.”

“Yeah.” Tabi let out a sigh in a  _ whoosh _ . “Really we’re just supposed to get Maxson approximate numbers, a good estimate to start with. I’ve convinced him we need the resources in here, all that remains is telling him exactly  _ what _ we’re potentially working with.” after a beat of quiet, Tabi uncrossed her legs, rising to her feet, and added, “Feel like another break?”

“Depends on what you’ve got in mind.” Haylen responded, stretching her legs.

Tabi jerked her head, and Haylen followed. “We’ll come back to this later, because this is probably where we’re gonna get a lot of tech right off the bat. There’s one more good place, though.”

Back down to the main commons of the Galactic Zone they went, and Tabi led the way towards a tower on the other side of the area. The sun was beginning to inch its way down to the horizon, and Tabi followed Haylen’s gaze. “We’ll probably stay here tonight, right?” Haylen had a feeling this was going to be longer than a simple day-trip, but wanted to confirm.

“Yeah.” Tabi let out a breath. “We don’t have to hang around the other raiders, though. We can just crash in the Nuka-Galaxy building for the night. Think I left some sleeping bags in the main office.”

“You thought of everything.” Haylen teased lightly, bumping Tabi’s shoulder.

“Yeah, well,” Tabi said dryly, “I wanted this to go well. Bringing you here…makes me nervous.  _ I’m _ nervous being here.”

Haylen snuck one arm around Tabi’s waist, letting her head rest against the taller woman’s shoulder, and Tabi draped her free arm over Haylen’s shoulders again. “Things seem to be going well so far.” Haylen commented.

“So far.” Tabi agreed. “And I know it’s not likely something’s going to go wrong right now, but you know what they say: if something  _ can _ go wrong–”

“It will.” Haylen finished. She squeezed the arm she had around Tabi’s waist a little tighter. “Let’s hope for the best.”

“I  _ did _ always want to be an optimist.” Tabi remarked, and Haylen laughed. At the foot of the tower, Tabi announced, “Starport Nuka. I think. Used to be some kind of museum or exhibit for the military’s ‘space-like’ tech,” Tabi put the word in air quotes with one hand, releasing Haylen from under her arm, “and other gadgets they had before and during the war.”

Inside, Haylen’s gaze was drawn first to the suit of power armor in its case. “Surprised you haven’t gotten any use out of that.” Haylen said.

Tabi glanced over to verify what Haylen was looking at. Her nose wrinkled slightly. “I like my own just fine. It’s got sentimental value now, you know.”

“Oh?” Haylen followed Tabi onto an elevator. “How so?”

“Well,” Tabi laid her arm over Haylen’s shoulders again, “it was the first suit I was issued. I learned how to repair it myself, and which materials were the best salvage for doing said repairs. I went into the Glowing Sea with it. I went into the Institute with it.” Tabi lifted the shoulder that carried her rifle in a shrug. “Guess I’ve just gotten attached to using it.”

“It  _ has _ seen its fair share of places.” Haylen agreed as the elevator ground to a halt. “So what was up here?”

Tabi stepped out first and swept her arm at the windows all around them. Haylen stepped up to the front of the control panels, where Tabi stood, and looked.

Nuka-World, in its entirety, stretched away as far as Haylen could see, illuminated by the fiery colors of the sunset. She could just barely see the movement of the raiders below, and something about their distance made Haylen feel a little better. She could tell Tabi was less tense, too–when she released a breath, some of the steel in her bones was expelled along with it.

“Think we could crash up here tonight?” Haylen asked.

“You know,” Tabi replied softly, “I was thinking the same thing.”


End file.
